Pregnant Briton collapses and dies at Spanish airport

A pregnant British woman collapsed and died at a Spanish airport as she waited
to board a plane back to England on Tuesday a year after an on-site
emergency healthcare unit was closed through budget cuts.

The 21-year old, who was believed to be between three and four months pregnant, died at Girona Airport in Spain’s northeastern region of Catalonia after a long weekend away with family on the Costa BravaPhoto: ALAMY

By Fiona Govan, Madrid

12:34PM BST 02 Oct 2013

The 21-year old, who was believed to be between three and four months pregnant, died at Girona Airport in Spain’s northeastern region of Catalonia after a long weekend away with family on the Costa Brava.

It is understood that she was descending in a lift from the boarding gate to the runway for a flight to Birmingham when she began to feel ill. She complained of feeling faint, then vomited and collapsed.

Her family tried to revive her but she was pronounced dead when paramedics arrived in an ambulance at least 14 minutes after the alarm was raised at 3.24pm local time.

The UGT workers union has said it will report the incident complaining that it may have been avoided if emergency medical staff had been available at the airport.

A 24-hour healthcare service at the airport was closed in July 2012 due to budget cuts and after a fall in passenger numbers meant it was no longer deemed essential, a spokesman said.

“We have requested a full report to analyse whether this incident could have been avoided,” said Joan Muntada, the union’s Secretary General for Transport.

A post mortem on the woman, who has not yet been named, was expected on Wednesday.

She was reportedly travelling with her sister, brother-in-law and their child and had flown to Girona to celebrate the 70th birthday of her grandmother.

Emergency services reported that the ambulance had arrived on the scene within 14 minutes but airport staff told local media that paramedics didn’t arrive until between 20 and 25 minutes later.

A spokesman for the British Foreign Office said: “We are aware of the death of a British national on 1st October in Girona, Spain. We are providing consular assistance to the family at this difficult time.